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Travel Guide To Sharm El Sheikh

The resort of Sharm el Sheikh, with its string of luxury resorts, is heaven for winter-sun seekers, and, it's only a five-and-a-half hour flight from the UK. Here, the sun burns brightly and rain is a rarity. The temperature is tailor-made for languid swimming, sitting by a pool or lying in the shade. But it is also a world-class diving destination and a great place to soak up some history.

Where to stay in Sharm el Sheikh

FOUR SEASONS RESORT SHARM EL SHEIKH (00 20 69 360 3555; www.fourseasons.com/sharmelsheikh). Designed to resemble a traditional Arabian village, this five-star hotel is one of Sharm's most tranquil hideaways. The 200 rooms and suites are scattered down the hill between reception and the tiny beach like a cascade of elegant sugar-lumps. In the lush gardens there are pools, water features and well-positioned cabanas with proper sunbeds. The dive shop runs daily trips to local sites, including the highly rated Straits of Tiran. Nightlife is laid-back: drinks and shisha in an Arabian lounge; ambient music by the shore. ££ HILTON SHARM EL SHEIKH FAYROUZ RESORT (00 20 69 360 0136; www.hilton.com). This 210-room hotel is one of the oldest hotels in Sharm el Sheikh, on a prime site in the curve of the bay, with a hearty chunk of sandy beach for its guests. £ THE HYATT REGENCY SHARM EL SHEIKH RESORT (00 20 69 360 1234; www.sharm.hyatt.com). This is another recent five-star arrival north of Na'ama Bay, on its own headland. Beyond the palm-lined avenue and pink-and-white marble lobby, the rooms are just as spacious and well-equipped as those at the Four Seasons, although with 439 of them around the grounds there isn't quite the same sense of privacy and there is less room for greenery, flowers and fountains. However there are pools, three beaches and a house reef. Na'ama Bay is just a dusty and not very pretty 10-minute walk away, if you are after nightlife. ££ THE RITZ-CARLTON SHARM EL SHEIKH (00 20 69 366 1919; www.ritzcarlton.com). This luxurious hotel is on the coast just south of Na'ama Bay. Everything from the gold-topped pillars in reception to the pharaonic wall hangings above the beds says Ancient Egypt, although all the facilities are thoroughly 21st century. The 321 rooms are in two-storey blocks around the site, interspersed with the usual array of pools, palms and places to eat and drink. ££ THE SONESTA BEACH RESORT & CASINO (00 20 69 360 0725; www.sonesta.com). The Sonesta Beach Resort & Casino is at the quiet end of the bay and has plenty of charm, though some of the rooms are a bit cheek-by-jowl. There are 520 rooms inspired by Arabian village architecture. £

Where to eat out in Sharm el Sheikh

ARABESQUE

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Four Seasons Resort Sharm el Sheikh (www.fourseasons.com/sharmelsheikh). This open-concept restaurant offers indoor and alfresco dining with Mediterranean, Moroccan and Lebanese specialities. The restaurant seats 90 indoors and 75 outdoors. Opt for the Middle Eastern mezze and fresh seafood. There is also a wood-fired oven for pizzas.

STARLIGHT DINNER RESTAURANT

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Hilton Sharm el Sheikh Fayrouz Resort (www.hilton.com). Dine alfresco in the desert against a mountain backdrop lit by firelight and candles. Food includes an Egyptian buffet and mezze. Book at least 24 hours in advance.

TAM TAM

(00 20 69 360 0150; www.ghazala.com). If you want to watch the evening passeggiata of Na'ama Bay while you dine on grilled lamb, head for the roof terrace of this charming restaurant, part of the Ghazala Hotel halfway along the bay. There's also a collection of low benches and cushions on the ground-floor terrace for elegant sprawling.

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THE SOUK AT THE HYATT

The Hyatt Regency Sharm El Sheikh resort (www.sharm.hyatt.com). The Souk at the Hyatt is built to resemble a Moroccan market with Bedouin music, Middle Eastern cooking and boutiques selling local artefacts, fashion and jewellery. Among the many foods on offer are spiced falafels in pita bread at Roti Roti (which specializes in flatbreads wrapped around traditional Middle Eastern curried and spiced meats, and served with traditional chutneys), noodle and rice dishes at Wok's and an array of Lebanese and Arabic specialities at Tahina's, including babaganoush, labneh with walnuts, tabouleh and fatoush.

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What to see in Sharm el Sheikh

NA'AMA BAY

Once you have done the 'sights', the great sweep of golden sand at Na'ama Bay is the original home of Sharm el Sheikh's tourist industry, and has rows of sunbeds as well as plenty of activities, including shopping in 'Old' Sharm. There are also endless trips into the desert to dine under the stars with the Bedouin.

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ST CATHERINE'S MONASTERY

In the shadow of Mount Sinai, stands the fortress-like St Catherine's Monastery, established by Emperor Justinian in 527 at the spot where Moses supposedly encountered the burning bush. Inside its high walls is an architectural mishmash of libraries, kitchens and living quarters, and an exquisite church hung with gold lamps and ancient icons and soaked in the scent of incense. Outside in the gardens is the ossuary where they keep the bones of all the monks who have lived there.Popular as a day trip, it is the only chance most visitors get to experience the Sinai Peninsula's curiously moving starkness, with only the odd oasis of date palms breaking up the endless pinky-brown hues of the jagged, crumbling mountains. You may baulk at the thought of hiking to the top of Mount Sinai but the ancient buildings at its foot are definitely worth a few hours away from the hotel poolside.

THE COLOURED CANYON

About 80km to the north-east of the monastery is a sight that wouldn't look out of place in an Indiana Jones film. The Coloured Canyon is a geographical oddity. A gorge carved by water through layers of sandstone and limestone over the past 1.5 million years and rediscovered rather more recently by a Bedouin looking for his lost daughter. The result is spectacular, especially at the narrowest section, where the towering rock walls, rosy pink and gold, with streaks and swirls of burgundy, green and yellow, are barely three feet apart and the sky is just a sliver of blue.

Things to do in Sharm el Sheikh

DIVING

Magnificent coral reefs lurk just below the azure surface of the Red Sea. Many visitors come here to admire the marine life at unspoiled sites stretching from the Straits of Tiran in the north to the southern tip of Sinai. There are corals of every hue and shape, from flame-red, branching alcyonarians to intricate yellow fans waving in the current. Fish are everywhere: delicately-striped angelfish, garishly spotted coral groupers and carelessly daubed parrotfish. Those who prefer snorkelling can still catch a glimpse of the underwater marvels with a mask and snorkel, thanks to close-to-shore shallow reefs such as White Knight and Middle Garden. Many of the best dive sites, such as Gordon and Jackson Reefs in the Straits of Tiran and those at Ras Mohammed National Park, are also perfect for snorkelling. (Ras Mohammed is considered one of the best diving spots in the world). And they are all accessible by boat on trips organised by any of Sharm el Sheikh's many dive shops. The Sinai peninsula is surrounded by terraces of coral up to 100 metres deep, providing food and shelter for a dazzling array of marine life, from tiny clownfish to chunky humphead wrasse, and sea eels to blacktip reef sharks.

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The best way to get around Sharm el Sheikh

The transfer time from the airport to the majority of hotels is 30 minutes at most; many new resorts are only 10 minutes away. Car hire is possible but there are so many taxis and organised trips that it's not really necessary and, with security checkpoints and erratic driving, not much fun either.